Oracle EPM 11.1.2.3 Upgrade and Design Consideration for HFM

Alexandre Seran

Table of Contents

l  Introductions

l  Why upgrade HFM to 11.1.2.3 ?

l  What are the options ? l  Project Considerations

l  Q&A

Alexandre Seran ADI Strategies, Principal – Financial consolidation practice lead.

Relevant Professional Experience Part of a large effort to reengineer the Financial Information systems and the corporate dashboards and planning tools, Alex led the design, build, test and deployment of an extensive Financial Consolidation and Reporting solution based on Oracle EPM 11.1.2.1 products. Led the design of a Financial Close Suite and Financial Consolidation Solution for the world largest social media group. Managed multiple Oracle Hyperion Financial Management implementations and upgrades covering the whole scope of work from infrastructure sizing and build to historical data validation and en user training. Following the implementation of a corporate consolidation and planning system for the world’s largest CPG company, Alex led a full system review and environment audit to assure the delivery of business needs and support compliance requirements. Led a company wide financial systems restructuring and reengineering effort including ERP, BI and Analytics work for a multinational Luxury goods company. Led the design and deployment of corporate wide Financial Consolidation, planning and reporting solution for a multinational media and advertising group operating in more than 71 countries in a strict compliance mode. Managed the Global IT Operations with a 10$M annual budget for a multinational media and advertising group operating in more than 71 countries. Supported corporate Financial systems administration team supporting Financial consolidation and Corporate Controlling dashboard for a Multinational Electrical distribution & Energy Management company. Led the corporate information systems transformation to support IFRS Transition for multiple clients in Europe and APAC.

Background Alexandre serves his clients with a unique blend of technical and functional expertise in Financial Systems transformation projects gained with more than 14 years of experience in large multinational organizations in Europe and North America with responsibilities covering Corporate Financial reporting Systems, Process reengineering, ITIL and change management Lead. His career started in Financial Reporting Solutions at Schneider-Electric and prior to becoming a consultant Alexandre was the director of the Financial Reporting systems and the Vice President of Global IT operations for Publicis Group. Alex is fascinated by innovative application of technology to solve business problems and enjoys the thrill of developing business partnering relationships.

EPM/BI Technical Skills •  Hyperon Financial Mgmt •  Hyperion EPM Architect •  Hyperion Calc Manager. •  Hyperion Essbase •  Hyperion Planning •  Hyperion App Link •  Hyperion Financial Reports •  Hyperion Web Analysis

Industries •  Media and Advertising •  Utility and Energy Management •  Biotechnology •  High Technology •  Manufacturing •  Financial Services •  Retail

Expertise •  Financial Consolidation •  IFRS Transitions •  SOX

Industry and Functional Experience

Table of Contents

l  Introductions

l  Why upgrade HFM to 11.1.2.3 ?

l  What are the options ? l  Project Considerations l  Q&A

Over the last years, our observations are that most of our customers generally consider HFM version upgrades for the following reasons:

l  IT Driven: l  Oracle Support Life cycle

l  Comply with general IT Policies and ITIL principles

l  Support for latest operating systems, database engines and

l  Support for latest desktop software (IE, Office,…)

l  Leveraging new integration capabilities with different source systems.

l  Upgrade is a way to resolve software bugs.

l  Finance Driven l  Implement additional EPM modules

l  Leverage the new functionalities of the tool In general, upgrades are perceived by customers as risky.

Our objective today is to walk you through the different upgrade options and how you can take advantage of your investment without additional risks.

Why upgrading EPM to 11.1.2.3

HFM 11.1.2.3 New Features

Pre 11.1.2.0 Better performance and improved stability with the Full 64 Bit capabilities Copy Application Utility Support for EPMA Applications Extended Analytics Enhancements including extract flat files without headers Web UI Changes Smart View:

• Smart Slices in Financial Management, • Cascading of reports, • Financial Management Task Lists in Excel and Outlook.

Integration with Financial Close Management Integration with Disclosure Management Integration with Oracle Governance Risk and Compliance (GRC)

11.1.2.1 Configurable Dimensionality Financial Management Application Upgrade Utility Enhancements User Interface Enhancements Financial Management Utilities are now consolidated into one directory called Utilities, under the Financial Management installation location Enhanced Cell Text with multiple cell text entries and create cell text labels Extended Analytics is now part of the Extract Data process. Integration with the Oracle User Productivity Kit

11.1.2.2

Application Type: Consolidation / Tax Provisioning Data Form and Grids Enhancements:

• Setting Dimension display Options • Dynamic POV Member Lists • On-Demand Rules

Lifecycle Management Application Base Level Data

• Application Module Configuration • Modified By and Modified Date properties

Metadata Load Auditing Module Configuration (Journals, Intercompany…) Task and Data Auditing are specific roles

HFM 11.1.2.3 New Features : Configurable Dimensionality

HFM now allows for multiple custom dimensions per application Custom dimensions are defined using Short and Long names This new options significantly improves the capabilities of HFM around Management Reporting and allows for enhanced application designs

Scenario, Year, Period, View Entity, Value, Account, ICP

Custom1 (Business Unit / Department)

Custom2 (Products) Custom3 (Channel / Customer)

Custom4 (BS Flows, Geography)

Scenario, Year, Period, View Entity, Value, Account, ICP

BS Flows

Business Unit Department

Products Channels

Geography Customer Audit Trail

The number of custom dimensions is defined by: •  Business Needs •  Relational Database technology •  Volume of Data and Performance

The user interface for this release has been enhanced for greater ease of use and consistency with other Hyperion products in the following areas: l  Support for multiple applications in Oracle Hyperion Enterprise Performance

Management Workspace l  Support for multiple modules, document and items in an application l  Improved menu navigation l  Improved overall screen layout l  Point of View improvements l  Member Selector improvements l  Improved Administration module layout l  Improved Document Manager and Task List management l  Improved Journals Module UI l  Improved system report creation l  Improved data grid and data form UI and design l  Consolidated Load and Extract functions screen

HFM 11.1.2.3 New Features : UI Enhancements

LCM currently supports the extract and load of : l  Metadata and Artifacts l  Application Base Level Data l  Application Module Configuration l  Modified By and Modified Date properties are now included for all artifacts

configuration

Improved Administrator capabilities around : l  Environment Migrations l  Soft Backup and Restore l  Disaster Recovery

HFM 11.1.2.3 New Features : Life Cycle Management

Extended Analytics is now accessible from the HFM Data Extract UI and supports extracts to both Flat-files and SQL Repository. This allows users to: l  Extract data from Multiple Scenarios and Years at once l  Extract data at every member of the value dimension l  Define the Extract file format

HFM 11.1.2.3 New Features: Extended Analytics

Table of Contents

l  Introductions

l  Why upgrade HFM to 11.1.2.3 ?

l  What are the upgrade options ? l  Project Considerations

l  Q&A

When planning for an HFM version upgrade, multiple approaches are available :

l  Like to Like upgrade ●  No changes in current HFM Design ●  All Metadata, Artifacts and Data are migrated from the source HFM application

l  Application redesign and Migration ●  Client will undergo an HFM Application redesign to take advantage of the new version

capabilities and or adjust some functionalities of the application ●  Metadata, Artifacts and Data needs to be converted from the Old application to the New

application ●  Historical data needs to be validated

l  Phased Approach ●  A Like to Like Migration will bring the App to the new 11.1.2.3 Version ●  Design Change will be conducted after in the 11.1.2.3 Development Environment

Upgrade Approach

Like to Like upgrade of HFM can be a very quick and low risk project : l  Software Install

●  Install and tune the EPM components on new 11.1.2.3 Environments (Dev, Test and Prod) l  Migration

●  HFM Migration 1.  Use HFM Application Copy to copy the HFM application from the current Environment to the new

11.1.2.3 Environment. Copy can be done as Classic 2.  Use HFM Schema Upgrade to update the newly copied HFM application to V. 11.1.2.3 3.  Register the newly copied App. Upgrade to EPMA as needed

●  FDM Migration 1.  Copy the FDM Database and FDM Data windows folder from the old to the New Environment 2.  Create a new FDM Application by Adding the newly copied Database and Folder Structure 3.  Run the FDM Upgrade Utility and Adjust the HFM Adapter Settings

●  FR Reports Migration 1.  Export Financial Reports objects from the source environment into a Zip File. 2.  Import the Zip File into the new environment and Adjust the database connections

●  Security Migration 1.  Depending on your source version, use LCM or CSS Export to extract Security 2.  Manually adjust File headers and use LCM to load into the new 11.1.2.3 Environment

Upgrade Approach : Like to Like

l  Pros ●  Leverage Oracle’s standard migration and upgrade tools results in a shorter project

timeline ●  HFM Application Copy ●  HFM Schema Upgrade

●  Limited Data Validation Efforts ●  Data have been migrated as a whole with Oracle’s standard tools. ●  No need to reconsolidate Historical Data. ●  Validation Reports can be done easily in Smartview or FR Reporting

●  Limited Compliance Effort ●  Most tools used in the migration are certified by the Vendor. The Compliance audit is often

limited to a process audit ●  Limited Change Management effort

l  Cons ●  This approach will keep the old design of the application (4 Custom Dimensions, etc…) ●  This approach will not provide major functional improvements.

Upgrade Approach : Like to Like

Redesigning and Migrating HFM applications can be a lengthy project and shall be treated as a full blown implementation : l  Software Install

●  Install and tune the EPM components on new 11.1.2.3 Environments (Dev, Test and Prod)

l  Application Redesign ●  Identify current application shortcomings and Pain-Points.

1.  Performance related and efficiency related gaps and pain points 2.  Business Performance Drivers Gaps 3.  Compliance Gaps 4.  Compare to the list of the out-of the Box improvements to identify Design Gaps

●  Design and Build your future state application 1.  It will probably be few years before you restart a new HFM upgrade project. 2.  Review the new data load mechanism in comparison to FDMEE capabilities

●  Initiate Data Migration and Data Validation Effort 1.  Revisit the data validation process with your Auditors (Internal and External) to ensure

compliance. ●  Train, Deploy and Go Live

Upgrade Approach : Application Redesign

l  Pros ●  A perfect occasion to revisit the HFM Application design and perform cleanup and

improvements on both the application and the process side ●  Allows for critical thinking in defining requirements with more in-house product expertise ●  Improve the “buy-in” of the project among different stake holder ●  Provides higher return on investment for the upgrade project. Users will get more for their

effort

l  Cons ●  Additional cost comparable to a full scale implementation level of engagement ●  Lengthier process causing additional delays on user’s benefits from the new version’s

quick wins ●  More requirements around compliance and historical data validation

Upgrade Approach : Application Redesign

This approach consists of a Like to Like Migration followed by an application redesign:

l  Like to Like migration will be considered the first phase of the work and will result in a formal GO-Live on the new version

l  Application redesign will be initiated following the initial 11.1.2.3 GO-Live. The redesign requirements will be defined based on the current version pain-points and shortcomings and the users experience with the new version’s capabilities

Upgrade Approach : Phased Approach (Our Recommendation)

l  Pros ●  Get the best of both approaches : Allows for design improvements while taking advantage

of the new version earlier in the process.. ●  Improve the “buy-in” of the project among different stakeholders with the mix of new

software capabilities and improved design in line with current business needs. ●  Provides higher return on investment for the upgrade project. Users will get more for their

effort. ●  Safer option with a fallback solution of the like-to-like migration.

l  Cons ●  Lengthier process with additional cost due to two layers of migration and design. ●  Requires additional change management with 2 rounds of deployment and user training.

Upgrade Approach : Phased Approach (Our Recommendation)

Table of Contents

l  Introductions

l  Why upgrade HFM to 11.1.2.3 ?

l  What are the upgrade options ? l  Project Considerations

l  Q&A

l  Plan your hardware acquisition ahead of the project start ●  In place upgrade is not the best practices ●  Virtual Machines are supported ●  11.1.2.3 Versions will require more memory, storage and processing power

l  Think holistically about EPM ●  Compare your current design to the best practices and consider the rest of the EPM tools

such as Planning, HPCM, ARM, Tax Provisioning ●  Explore all the HFM Toolset (ICT, Equity Pickup,…) ●  Data Integration is Key. Think EAL for HFM to Essbase Transfer, EPM Data Sync and EA

l  Engage all different stakeholders ●  IT Involvement in HFM infrastructure is higher ●  Review the data validation process with the Auditors ahead of the game to prevent

surprises

l  Hands on Engagement ●  Don’t rely fully on Consultants. Your project long term success is dependent on your

team’s engagement in the toolset

Upgrade Approach : General Project Considerations

l  Review your Entity Hierarchy ●  Consider moving some of the Entity members into a dedicated Custom Dimension. Entity

Hierarchy have significant impact on the consolidation performance

l  Consider Additional Custom Dimensions ●  Data Source and Audit Trail ●  FX Rate Simulations and Comparatives ●  Additional Analytical details ●  Balance Sheet Flows

l  Consider Additional Reporting Capabilities ●  Explore the new Functionalities of Smartview ●  Review Financial Reporting Reports Design ●  EAL and Essbase Reporting Applications ●  OFMA and Mobility

Upgrade Approach : HFM Design Considerations

l  Like to Like Upgrades can be achieved within 8-10 Weeks ●  Typical Infrastructure install are accomplished within a 1 month ●  Migration time is limited ●  Data Validation and certification goes over 4-8 Weeks ●  Plan for couple of weeks of user training (depending on the number of users) ●  Consider Parallel Closing

l  Typical HFM redesign can be achieved within 5-8 Months ●  With the in-house knowledge of HFM, Design iterations are usually limited and build

phases are shorter ●  The bulk of the effort is around data migration, validation and testing ●  Multiple Parallel Closes is a must to ensure compliance

l  Phased Approach usually takes longer but provides multiple opportunities for quick wins and low hanging fruits

Upgrade Approach : Typical Timeline

Table of Contents

l  Introductions

l  Why upgrade HFM to 11.1.2.3 ?

l  What are the upgrade options ? l  Project Considerations

l  Q&A